Means for setting up loose-letter signs and notice boards



T. N. EVENS. MEANS FOR SETTING UP LOOSE LETTER SIGNS AND NOTICE BOARDS.

APPLlCATlON FILED H-IB.2| 1922.

v 413 26 Patented Apr. 18, 1922 I V MEANS FOR SETTING UP LOOSE-L Specification o To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that-I, TrioMAs' -NELSON EvENs, a citizen of ftheUn-ited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland,"and resident of 3 and e'Eagle Street, London, IV. C; 1,-England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inflMe'ansfor Setting up Loose-Letter Signs-and Notice; Boards, of

which the following is a specification, such,

as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same' i r This invention relates to signs and notice boards of the kind with which loose letters, figures, symbols and the like and which I 'will call characters, are used and refers more particularly to an improved method of storing and of discharging from the store the required characters to makeup the sign or notice required. V

The invention may also include novel means for introducing in the sequence required the characters to the board or base upon which they are to be mounted.

Briefly the invention consists in storing like characters in groove-like cases or holders from one end or part of which they can be discharged out one at a time'from the said cases or holders into any suitable receptacle or if preferredv to means by which they are introduced directly or.v indirectly into the grooves in the boardlor. base upon which they are to be assembled.

The method'ofintroduction to the board or base may be as desired such as by bringing the groove-like case into alignmentwith' the individual grooves in the board or by connecting a number at the cases or holders to one common outlet placed opposite the groove in the board into which groove the characters will enter by gravity or by being mechanically, pneumatically or hand pushed the said outlet or the board being moved along step by step'as each line is completed.

' Suitable margin-making and spacing de-' vices, such as that shown in Fig. 7 of the drawings accompanying the specification of my application for United States Letters Patent No. 401210, can be used in like manner as that employed for the characters.

In another form a number of groove-like cases may be arranged on one rotatable holder which can be turned asrequiredto bring the selected character opposite the groove in the board or base.

rHoMAs nELsoN nvnnsgor mason, ENGLAND. I

Ermine siens nun-'uorrcn BOARDS,

f Letters Patent. Patented APR 18 I will 'now describe my invention'with reference to the-accompanying drawings of which the main figure is largely diagrambe carried out inma-ny ways. i

' the makin up proved device;

' operablemembers, wher successively released.

, 19.22. Application file d February 2,1522 iSeria1-N0. "533,6 30. j

Fig. '2is a sectional. detail of the manually eby the letters are Figs. 3an'd 4 aredetails in elevation, show 7 I ing respeotively the letter retaining means in holdingand releasing positions.

In Fig. 1, are arranged lines 1, WlllCll'IBP- resent the grooves or holdersin which the characters are stored itbeing understood that any suitable number of these may be employed, such astwenty-six' for the letters of the alphabet, ten'for numbers, andper- 'haps a dozen for &,punctuation characters and the like. 5

The drawing shows the letters A, B, Y

and Z mounted sidewardlyin these holders g v and it will be understood the remaining holders are arranged betweenthose holding A and B and those holding -Y andZ or as may belconvenient. Each ofithese holders 1 has its continuation or slide 2 adapted to receive the letters said slidesiter'minating at a common ,ohute 3 whichi'r egister's one at. i

a time with the grooves 4: in theboard or base 5 which is shownside uppermost and in two of the grooves of which some letters j have been positioned. The board is held i'nr a frame or adapted to be moved-with the] board to bring the grooves 4 one at a time.

into register with'the chute 3..

In these drawings I have arrangedfor I I i the discharge to be by gravity and in Fi 4 2, 3 andgt'I show how the characters can be released. Figs. 3 and 4 'show'two viewsof the end of one of the holders 1 seen in Fi 1 and in' which the letter W is held. It is to be understood that thesecharacters are placed in the holders one over the'other and are adapted to slide, by gravity, in the pres-f ent case, to the common the board.

For the purpose of holding and releasing,

chute. and thence to one at a time, the letters seen in Fig. 4C, I-

provide a spring'controlled side platefi piv:

I as is seen in Fig. 3. I also provide a finger 9 on the plate to prevent two characters falling out at the one operation. This finger simply passes between the two lowermost characters -when the under one is being released and holds the second in place until the end of the holder is recovered by the part 8 when all the letters in the holder drop down one step or stage.

For the purpose of actuating the spring controlled plates I provide a key board, of whichtwo keys a, a are seen in Fig.2, having characters corresponding to those in the holders and each is provided With a Bovvden wire 10 actuated through a cranked lever 11 and connected at 12 to the spring plate in such a manner that when a key is depressed it actuate-s the Wire, moves the spring plate to the position seen in F 1g. 4, thus allowing one character to fall out and brings the finger under the next character until the pull or" the wire is released when the parts reassume the posltion seen in Fig. 3.

the spring.

lVhat I claim is In combination, a series of letter holders having open discharge ends, a slide plate pivotally connected to each holder and havin a return end adapted to normally underlie the discharge end of the holder to prevent discharge of the letters, said plate having a finger adapted to normally rest beyond the letters in the holder and to be positioned intermediate certain of the letters 7 EWART FRANK MATHIAs, ROBERT LEON CHIRZGA MONEY. 

